The Bad Shepherds were an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

band, formed by the comedian

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series ''The Young Ones (TV s ...

in 2008. They played

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

songs with traditional folk instruments. The band primarily consisted of Edmondson (vocals,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

) and

Troy Donockley Troy Donockley (born 30 May 1964) is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of Uilleann pipes. Having performed with many artists as a session player, he is most notable as a member of Finnish symphonic metal ba ...

(

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a larg ...

s, vocals).

History

After "accidentally" buying a mandolin, Edmondson taught himself to play a few chords and he began to play a few punk songs on it. After playing for two days with Donockley, a virtuoso uilleann pipes player and multi-instrumentalist, they had arranged eight songs. After some initial experimentation, they enlisted Dinan, winner of the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship, and the band was formed. Essentially a folk band, the band's repertoire is taken from

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and new wave hits from 1978 to 1985. They re-interpret songs, inserting traditional

reels A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

and

jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

s. After touring the United Kingdom during 2008, the Bad Shepherds released their debut album, ''Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera!'' (which translates from an ancient

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

n dialect as ''One, Two, Three, Four!'') in May 2009. The band released their second album, ''By Hook or By Crook'', with former

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

member

Tim Harries Tim Harries (born 1959) is a British bass player, who has played with various folk rock and jazz bands in his career. Biography Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study double bass with Tom ...

playing double bass, in 2010. The Bad Shepherds also headlined the first Looe Music Festival in 2011. At the start of 2013, after a year long hiatus the band announced they were getting back together to release a new album and undertake a 24-date UK tour, along with a six-date tour of Australia. Both of which were entitled ''Mud, Blood and Beer''. The album was released on 19 August 2013, and included both cover versions of punk and new wave tracks, plus their own material. Adrian Edmondson announced the band's end on his Facebook page on 31 October 2016.

Awards

The Bad Shepherds were nominated for the Best Live Act award at the 2010

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

. In 2012, the band won the Spiral Earth Award for best live act. The organisation celebrates a wide range of music, however their roots are mainly focused in the folk music genre.

Band members

Final line-up

– vocals, mandolin, mandola *

– uilleann pipes, cittern, whistles, vocals

Former

Terl Bryant Terl Bryant is an English musician. His early career saw him working with US singer/songwriter and filmmaker Steve Taylor and later was in the band of Peter Murphy, the lead singer for Bauhaus. During the 90s he went on to join influential fo ...

– percussion *Andy Dinan – fiddle *Carol Dawson – fiddle *Eimear Bradley – fiddle *Keith Angel – percussion *Mark Woolley – percussion *

Maartin Allcock Maartin Allcock (born Martin Allcock; 5 January 1957 – 16 September 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer. Biography Born in Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), E ...

– bass *Brad Lang – bass *

– bass

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Shepherds, The English folk musical groups Folk punk groups Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2016